I remember the amazement I felt when I confirmed in the OED (not trusting Bill) that “to believe” came from the root “to love” when I would have expected it to come from some form of “to think.” Again, I was amazed when I went to the OED to look up the root for “thanksgiving” and where I expected to find an affective root such as “heartfelt”, instead I discovered that “to thank” comes from the root “to think”.
To be thankful, to be grateful, then, is a choice and has intentionality. It is the opposite of “acedia”, a word which has its roots is akedos, literally, “bad thoughts.” Acedia is that spiritual boredom that can set it and cause us to dismiss the paradise that surrounds us whenever we think that the tasks at hand are too small, too meaningless or unworthy of our attention…the kind of spiritual boredom that can leave us feeling lost, homeless even, in the midst of all that is familiar.
When we find ourselves lost, the best thing we can do then, like Nicholas, is “to make wherever we’re lost in look as much like home as we can”…and give thanks.
For whenever we raise our voices in thanksgiving, we raise our temple to the holiness of life and to the good things of the earth and we are home.
Teri Martin
